


Closed Circuit

by Adrenochrome



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Artificial Intelligence, Engineers, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2019-09-17 20:26:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16981233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adrenochrome/pseuds/Adrenochrome
Summary: Jongdae, a robotics engineer working as a researcher at a university, has spent the last two years perfecting the schematics for an android capable of artificial intelligence and the ability to feel emotions. Project title: SUHO.





	1. The Switch On

Instant coffee was perhaps the bane of Jongdae’s existence. While it tasted somewhat like coffee at the first sip, it wasn’t long before it tasted like nothing more than a bunch of powdered creamer and cheap sugar. There were only so many French cafe sachets he could take within a twenty-four-hour time frame, and his most recent project was well and truly testing the boundaries of Jongdae’s taste buds and blood sugar levels.

Standing with a groan, he felt the pops between all his joints from his shoulders right down his spine. It was rather unhealthy, he made a mental note to try to buy some omega three supplements when he next ventured out. Unfortunately, he’d not been out of the house for a good week, he was too enthralled with the prospect of finishing his creation to even sleep, let alone head to the market. After putting in so much time, money and effort into this particular project, he was ready for the final steps. Though he would miss his evenings spent in his basement working away, his body was in need of some sunlight and rest.

Glancing up, he saw the monitor saying the data transfer was at thirteen percent. The process was a slow and intricate one, not one to rush. But like a child on Christmas morning, he was ready for his reward. A ping from the other side of the room caught his attention, and with a final stretch of his legs, he walks over. The component had finished charging, the soft artificial skin glowed blue when touched, bringing it over to the main table he quickly pulled down his glasses from atop his head. 

Connecting each individual wire up with a delicate job, if any of them were crossed the whole system wouldn’t be able to function. But Jongdae knew what he was doing, his team at the university had actually pioneered most of the technology he’d used with his project. Some, however, were Jongdae’s personal designs, which was why he’d put so much time into his creation, it was going to be a world first, and instead of having the university patent his designs and sell them to god knows who, it would be his and his alone.

It took an hour of slow fine-tuning to fully connect the wires, but thankfully it would be the last time he’d have to do so. A charging unit had been installed in the back of one of the upper sections allowing for easy and trouble-free power-ups. His glasses had started to slide down the bridge of his nose, but he was too focussed to care. After the last wire was connected, he replaced the synthetic skin, the two blunt edges annealing almost immediately. Whereas before the material would glow blue when touched, it now glowed blue in uniform lines, turning at right angles at odd points producing an odd pattern. 

Jongdae let out a sigh of relief as he pushed his glasses back into place. The monitor read fifty-six percent completion, and also four in the morning. But he continued to push himself, despite his body protesting. Busying himself with the finer details of configuring the sensory input and output regions, he began to hear the birds sing. The window in the top section of the far wall which led to his messy garden was beginning to light up, bringing in a small amount of natural light to his artificial and uncomfortably bright workroom. 

He needed to stay awake to finish, and decided some music was the best idea. “Computer, play some Daft Punk, please.” He said softly while continuing to tinker with the incredibly small pieces of mental underneath his magnifying lens. 

His computer happily obliged, playing the first song on the artist’s page at a low volume. The background noise was enough to keep him awake and focused. He somehow needed to make sure that the sensory components were all configured in the same way, especially auditory, otherwise balance would become an issue. While he was an incredibly intelligent man, Jongdae knew full well he wasn’t a very strong one. Lifting up heavy pieces of technology was exactly what he was trying to avoid.

After sensory configuration, he needed to ensure the central system was all connected. It required only a few simple tests, passing electrical currents through each of the separate wires and waiting for a corresponding reaction. With perfect timing, just as he felt content with the results, the main computer trilled, a high pitch beep to inform Jongdae that data transfer was complete. The noise made Jongdae feel a rush of adrenaline, he was nearly there. 

The central cortex which contained the emotion chip has been connected to his main computer for hours, data which Jongdae had created and coded himself had finally been implemented into the final piece of his creation. The beeping continued until Jongdae finally disconnected all the brightly coloured wires. Suddenly, Jongdae felt a great feeling of accomplishment. In his grasp, he held months, no, years of work. His finest work. Something which would change his life forever.

With clammy hands, he carefully placed the piece into the upper section. Thankfully there were no more wires to connect, this piece was like the last part of a jigsaw, fitting and connecting perfectly. Folding the artificial skin back into place once more, the blue lines spread from the final section he’d installed to cover the whole expanse of the material. Fine blue and white lines crossed each other, before dimming to nothing. 

The time had come for all his work to come to fruition, and he was nervous. The sleepiness which had plagued him the entire night had suddenly vanished leaving nothing but an uncomfortable feeling in his gut. It was difficult to think he would no longer have to slave away at his desk every night till dawn, he wasn’t sure if he was happy or just relieved. Carefully sliding his hand to the underside of the top component, he felt for a familiar shape. Next to the charging unit, there was a small button, soft like the artificial skin but distinct enough to be able to tell the two apart. He pressed it gently, waiting until the fine blue lines returned. 

Stepping back, he felt his heart rate increased tenfold. In all his years of working with technology, he had never felt this excited and terrified for a project. This would be his legacy. 

The glowing light dimmed once more until finally there was nothing. For a moment Jongdae thought he’d wired something up wrong, the panic in his gut quickly turning to annoyance. He was about to power everything down and just go to sleep, but a soft beeping noise coming straight from the upper section caught his attention.

Then, their eyes opened. 

Their irises were a soft, pastel blue. Jongdae wasn’t sure why as he could have sworn he’d programmed them to be brown like his own. They blinked slowly, opening their mouth once before closing it quickly. Carefully, Jongdae stood back and watched on as his project sat up smoothly, before gently stepping off his workbench.

It was magical, really, how for so many months he’d been working on this inanimate piece of technology with no life, and now it was stood in front of him, looking at him. His creation was a curious one, they silently drank in their surroundings, glancing down at their own hands like they were a gift, turning them from front to back. Now that he was standing back and seeing them for the first time in an animated state, he was in awe.

The artificial skin was matched to his own shade as he’d tried his best to emulate something that would appear as human as himself. The eyes, however, were a bit of a giveaway, glowing in the same manner as the blue and white lines which had peppered the artificial skin. It was an optional part, but Jongdae had given them hair, a blonde mop which seemed to compliment the abnormal coloured eyes beautifully. 

“You are… incredible.” Jongdae whispered, stepped closer to them, unconsciously raising his hand to touch their face, noting that it no longer glowed blue in response. Their eyes followed the movement, though their expression remained blank.

Opening their mouth, they spoke. “Who am I?” 

Jongdae noted that the voice was almost perfectly clear like he’d hoped it would be, however, there was a slight hint of a high pitched metallic noise which almost ruined the illusion of them being a human.

He pondered for a moment. He’d not really given names a thought, he’d just assumed they would want to name themselves. After careful consideration, he came to a decision. 

Loud and clear, he started. “Your name is Suho, and you are my creation.” 

They blinked once more, touching their hand to their chest. “Suho.”

Jongdae couldn’t help but smile, wide and proud. A sense of pride welled up in his chest as he watched them mirror his actions, smiling themselves.


	2. The Tweaking

Suho had come so far since that initial meeting. They had learned to mimic some of Jongdae’s social cues, and while they hadn’t developed a personality yet, they had become self sufficient and curious to learn, things which made Jongdae feel proud.

 

Currently, Suho was enjoying reading about insects. They sat cross legged on the plushy rug laid out in front of the fireplace, focused intently on the words on each page. He watched them, fascinated, as every now and then the android would slowly speak, copying the words they’d just read. Strictly speaking, Suho had the mind of a child, inquisitive and impressionable. Jongdae wanted to ensure that his creation had a steady flow of activities to stimulate their mind and make them start to develop preferences.

 

“Jongdae.”

 

Snapping out of his daze, he moved to sit next to Suho, cross-legged just like them. “Yes, Suho?”

 

“What is… this?” he pointed, gently pressing his fingertip into the paper, right next to a picture.

 

The image showed a small, white butterfly perched upon a pretty purple flower. Under closer inspection, he saw the binomial name written in italics,  _ Pieris brassicae _ . “That’s called a butterfly, though this particular butterfly is very common.” 

 

They made a noise, something which Jongdae would call a hum, before resting their fingers over the top of the picture, as if they were trying to feel the butterfly wings. “The picture. I like it.” 

 

Jongdae smiled, feeling proud like a parent. “Good! What other ones do you like?”

 

Pausing for a second, Suho went very still. It had taken some time for Jongdae to realise that the android would not twitch or fidget like a normal human would, every now and then he would be surprised by the stillness. Turning back to the exact page the picture was on, he pointed. “This one.”

 

He cringed a little bit, trying not to have a big reaction. Suho had turned to the spider section, pointing specifically at the tarantula. Jongdae wasn’t a fan of arachnids as a whole, but tarantulas, in particular, made him feel like his skin was crawling. Grimacing he tapped Suho on the shoulder. “Ah, that one. Not too many people are fond of those.” 

 

Suho looked at him like he’d done something wrong, which Jongdae noted, was the first time they’d been so expressive. “You don’t like it?”

 

“No, Suho, I’m actually quite scared of them.” 

 

“Oh.” Suddenly, they closed the book with a thud. “I do not like them anymore.” 

 

Blinking, he watched the android stare off into space. When they didn’t have anything going on around them, or anything to keep their mind occupied, they would often just fall silent and appear to be daydreaming, waiting for their next task. 

 

\--

 

Work had been unbelievably boring today, and Jongdae was more than just relieved to be home. Unfortunately, a bunch of case files had to be reviewed before the Friday, so he’d had to bring a massive pile of paper along with him. Balanced precariously on top of the dusty files was a small, netted box. 

 

Just as he was about to call out for Suho, the android appeared, walking around the corner. Immediately Jongdae noticed that the android was looking a bit odd. Blinking a couple of times he got his mind into gear, noticing that Suho’s right arm was no longer attached to their body, but in fact, in their other hands grasp.

 

“Jongdae.”

 

Fumbling to put his files down, trying to be as careful as possible while still rushing at the same time, he dashes over to Suho, he immediately goes to touch them but stops just centimetres away, trying to survey the damage and determine the cause. 

 

“Suho! What on earth happened…” 

 

It was instinct, really, which made him panic. He’d never seen someone carry their arm around so casually. While he knew deep down that Suho would never feel any physical pain, he couldn’t help but feel distressed at the sight. Suho, however, was as calm as they could possibly be, expression blank.

 

“I fell. It would appear my arm has come detached.”

 

“Y-yes, I can see that… Let’s go downstairs.”

 

Following like an obedient puppy the two of them trudged down the stairs. This was the first time Suho had received physical damage that required a proper fix. So far the android had been very well behaved and had avoided dangers which Jongdae had warned them about, including the stove, the electrical outputs and the windows.

 

Suho willingly laid down on the metallic work table from which he first awakened from. Thoughts racing, Jongdae retrieved equipment from all corners of the room before setting them out neatly on a smaller table placed next to the workbench. If Suho had truly fallen as they’d said so, then he was going to have to examine the android’s sensory input. That would mean calibration, countless amounts of tests and a period of downtime which would negatively affect Suho’s personality development-

 

“Jongdae.”

 

Blinking, he looked down at Suho. They appeared emotionless like they usually did, but the angle made him look strange. “Yes?”

 

“After spending the last fourteen days observing you I have noticed that you have a large selection of facial expressions, which often correspond to certain human emotions.”

 

Curious tilt of the head. “Oh? I didn’t know you’d been watching me.”

 

“Yes. I find that when you are frowning and flustered like you are now, you are often also overthinking.”

 

Surprised, Jongdae opened his mouth to respond, but couldn’t form a proper sentence. The fact that Suho was beginning to find a correlation between facial expression and emotion so soon was remarkable. The skill of deciphering someone’s thought processes from body language is something which takes humans years to develop during childhood. Suho was advancing far quicker than he’d initially anticipated.

 

“You’re right, I was overthinking. If you fell, that means there’s a problem with your sensory input and processing. So I’m going to have to do some intense work on your central system.”

 

“Yes. I understand.”

 

“You’ll have to be powered down while I work, Suho.”

 

“It is fine. I know that you will not take too long,” and just like that, Suho’s eyes closed, giving the appearance that he was asleep.

 

The time in which Suho was powered down was quiet. Though the android was not very talkative, his presence alone was enough to drown out the silence which Jongdae had initially become accustomed to. Now, however, the quiet was uncomfortable. The sounds of his tools touching, metal melting, electricity sparking were all that filled his workroom. He couldn’t even bring himself to play music.

 

The problems with Suho’s sensory output had started out relatively simple, a wire which had worn away due to the high temperatures, but soon enough he found another problem. The port in which the wire was supposed to join to was faulty, meaning even if the wire was replaced, the problem would reoccur.

 

Though he’d initially promised himself he would fix the issue as soon as possible, he was struggling. The sun had long gone, the room brightly lit to the point it was giving him a headache, and he was still no closer to finishing than he was two hours ago. After all this, he was going to have to start calibration, which would also take a long time.

 

He’d finished his third cup of the instant gold blend, and he was practically vibrating from all the caffeine in his system, the looming feeling that he would have to go to work the next day making his stomach feel queasy. Well, it wasn’t even the next day at this point, he’d already passed the midnight point and was well into the early hours of the next day. He was supposed to have finished reviewing all the paperwork he’d brought home so that they could begin preliminary testing of a prototype his team had produced, but alas, he'd not even read the first pages.

 

Could he call in sick? He could. He’d probably feel guilty about it for the rest of the week, but he didn’t just want to leave Suho alone, inactive in his workroom. He knew, obviously, that Suho was an android, and not fully capable of processing feelings at this point in time. He also knew Suho was unable to differentiate the amount of time he was powered down for, but a small voice in the back of his mind couldn’t help but feel shitty for even thinking of leaving him there.

 

So, he ended up calling in. A horrific stomach bug, they’d have to do testing without him present and just feedback the data to him another time.

 

“Computer, play Summer Love by Trevor Something,” he said quietly, settling into his less than comfy seat, flipping his magnifying goggles down and getting to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, but here's part 2. Hope you enjoy and comment <3


	3. The Development

It ended up taking a good few hours to have everything wired back up and fully functioning, and he didn’t really realise the time until he was feeling rather hungry. After a quick break to refuel and use the bathroom, he returned back, opening the little window to let in some fresh air as it seemed the room was getting a little bit stuffy in the heat. Some random songs from his music collection had been playing, he was so engrossed in completing his task that he has pretty much tuned out his surroundings, essentially giving himself tunnel vision. 

 

Before Suho had been powered up, Jongdae viewed them as just another personal project, something to fill his time at home and keep his mind stimulated. But afterwards he saw Suho as something to fill the loneliness. He wasn’t sure whether that spoke volumes about Jongdae’s apparent lack of social interaction or Suho’s effect on how he viewed the android. Either way, it was interesting.

 

Similar to the very first time, the powering up process involved a lot of blue lines and uncomfortable silence. But when he was greeted with the androids soft blue eyes, Jongdae felt a mixture of feelings flood him. He wasn’t sure how to describe it other than relief and comfort. Suho did not blink, but spoke once.

 

“Jongdae.”

 

He laughed, unable to stop himself from smiling like a mad man. “Suho, it’s good to have you back, buddy.”

 

\--

 

“Jongdae.”

 

Turning from the mounds of paperwork, he looked over at the android. They’d been quietly observing the contents of the netted box for the last few minutes, after Jongdae had told him what they were. Suho was completely and utterly enthralled, with wide eyes he followed the small and slow movements of the caterpillars inside, watching as they slowly munched their way through some foliage and crawled up and down the multitude of twigs which Jongdae had added to give them a little bit of a habitat. The idea of getting some caterpillars didn’t really come to him until after the chat about insects, but it was intended as a nice gesture regardless. By the looks of it the present was going down a treat.

 

“Yes?”

 

“I did not realise how small they actually would be.” Suho said, not once moving their eyes away from the caterpillars.

 

Jongdae couldn’t help but chuckle at the mental image of large caterpillars on trees. “Yeah, they’re rather tiny.”

 

“I am glad to have them as my companions,” Suho stated, then with a movement that was far too unnatural, attempted to smile.

 

Jongdae tried really hard not to laugh. It wasn’t Suho’s fault. “Do you feel happy inside?”

 

“I am not sure. What does happiness feel like?”

 

Jongdae couldn’t really give a good answer.

 

\--

 

Keeping Suho a secret from his work colleagues and associates was becoming increasingly difficult with each passing week. The project that they had been working on for months, possibly even  _ years _ , no longer seemed to interest him as much, and it wasn’t going unnoticed. Taking off sick days and actually using up his vacation days was earning him some funny looks from those he’d been closest to.

 

But he just couldn’t help it.

 

As a young boy he’d dreamed of robots, of machines which could do everything that his small human body could not. It wasn’t until he was older and much smarter that he realised he could quite literally make his dreams come true. When he’d started writing and planning out the schematics for his robot, he realised he’d need to have an overall function in order to fully plan out what parts needed to be assembled. As a lonely robotics engineer with poor people's skills and even poorer care-taking skills he’d rather obnoxiously decided that he’d create a robot that would help take care of his house and keep him company. He titled his project ‘guardian’.

 

The moment that Suho was switched on, effectively brought to life, nothing else seemed to even matter. He’d created something so unique, so utterly engaging, that absolutely everything else in his life just seemed dull. Outdated. Irrelevant. 

 

Still, he somehow needed to keep up the facade that he was invested in his work projects. So he told his colleagues that he’d fill out the thousands of forms they needed to send to the board to ask for grants, even though he really didn’t want to. So many of his colleagues were being detailed for private projects or branching out into other departments so it wasn’t so bad, just a handful of forms then he could go.

 

As he scribbled away, one of his more trusted colleagues came to his desk, gently placing a mug down on Jongdae’s coaster, one that had come free with an electronics supplier. Kyungsoo looked at him before checking around, as if to see if the coast was clear. When he saw it was, he pulled up one of the spare chairs by Jongdae’s desk.

 

“Why do you look like you’re about to spread gossip?” Jongdae said, putting his pen down and fixing Kyungsoo with a bit of an exasperated look.

 

Kyungsoo was a notorious gossip, he loved getting all the dirt on the rest of the workers in their department, Jongdae wasn’t sure why he did, perhaps the working environment bored him. But instead of a playful smirk, he wore a concerned expression.

 

Tensing his jaw, he spoke. “Not gossip, it’s serious.”

 

Jongdae could feel his stomach drop, despite knowing that any data or equipment relating to Suho was kept a home on a separate computer, he couldn’t help but feel like someone  _ knew _ . He had no idea what the university would do if they knew what Jongdae was working on during his private time, they could try steal his ideas, hell, they could steal Suho. Jongdae gulped, feeling a rush of adrenaline. “Oh… what’s wrong?”

 

“I heard one of the higher ups talking, she said that government officials were coming to inspect the facility later this week.”

 

Jongdae frowned. “That’s normal though? They have to inspect regularly to make sure we’re following regulations, right?”

 

Kyungsoo sighed, once again checking for people. “Not this time. She said they’re wanting us to undertake a project for them, she didn’t say what in particular but I heard her mentioning the military.”

 

He let out a nervous laugh. “Surely you can’t be serious? What could the military want from a robotics department like ours?”

 

“Think about it, most of the people working here have PhDs. Think about all of the ones you know, what do their research project’s all have in common?”

 

Jongdae did think about it. He knew one of his older colleagues who was currently working on a satellite for a GPS company, she’d specialised in computer algorithms which had capability of learning. Another one who’d submitted a grant application into a project aimed at creating more intelligent prosthetic pieces for amputees. Casting his mind back he thought about others who still had active projects, quite a few of them were centred on robots who could work in the service industry. It took him a second, but when he pieced it all together he realised their talents could all be utilized for one thing.

 

Softly, he replied. “Androids. Artificial intelligence.” 

 

“Exactly. The type of shit you see them use in action movies all around the world. I’d bet a months wages that they chose us because most of us have a background in that field.” Kyungsoo, for once, didn’t look too happy about knowing this.

 

Why wouldn’t he be? None of them wanted to work for the military. They chose their discipline because it involved creation, simple designs which could benefit thousands. Would the military approach them to create something of benefit? No, more than likely they wanted something to give them the upper edge, something destructive. If they wanted androids, god knows what they would use them for.

 

Jongdae felt sick. 

 

“Those bastards, they can’t be up to anything good.” Kyungsoo finished, taking a sip from his own mug.

 

Jongdae realised how dangerous this could become, especially if Suho was discovered. His advances has been private, nobody knew what he had done and he intended to keep it that way, no matter the cost. This kind of technology needed to be kept out of the hands of those who would use it for all the wrong reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are getting spicy hehehehe

**Author's Note:**

> The start of my planned android!AU, hopefully you all enjoy this little section. to clarify, I know fuck all about robots this is just self-indulgent.


End file.
